AU750693B2

AU750693B2 - Medical neck collar

Info

Publication number: AU750693B2
Application number: AU89521/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Arthur-Hugh Andrews; Thorsten Herzberg; Holger Kartheus; Thomas Moller
Original assignee: Beiersdorf AG
Current assignee: BSN Medical GmbH
Priority date: 1997-12-17
Filing date: 1998-10-26
Publication date: 2002-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 2018-10-26
Also published as: EP0923917A2; ATE254897T1; DE19755923A1; EP0923917A3; DE59810266D1; ES2212204T3; EP0923917B1; AU8952198A

Abstract

In the supportive body there are stabilizers of open-celled or closed-celled foam, or else of a non woven material. The arrangement is such that they penetrate the supporting body radially, and are totally surrounded by it. An Independent claim is included for the method of manufacturing the collar.

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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S p Name of Applicant/s: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft Actual Inventor/s: Thorsten Herzberg; Thomas Moller; Holger Kartheus; Arthur-Hugh Andrews Address for Service: BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS 60 MARGARET STREET SYDNEY NSW 2000 Invention Title: "MEDICAL NECK COLLAR" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- File: 21446.00 5844 la MEDICAL NECK COLLAR The invention relates to a medical neck collar of a three-dimensional structure for guiding, supporting, immobilizing and securing the cervical spine, essentially comprising a dimensionally stable supporting body of flexible foam which is placed around the neck of the patient, the free ends of which overlap and are detachably connected to each other in the region of the neck and the upper and lower contour lines of which are adapted to the anatomical shape of the patient's chin region and shoulder region, respectively, the said supporting body being provided, with a covering of a pliable textile material. Furthermore, a process for producing the neck collar is disclosed.

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Medical neck collars, also known as cervical supports, have the following indications.

Their use is advised in the case of cervical syndrome and whiplash injuries.

Furthermore, cervical supports may be advantageously used in post-operative rehabilitation following operations in the cervical spine region or on an intervertebral disc. A fracture of the cervical spine can then be stabilized.

20 In addition to those listed, however, many other areas of use exist for known cervical supports.

The generally known bandages for these indications are usually formed from a foam. Neck collars formed from a combination of foam with plastic reinforcements are also known. This combined form of construction are [sic] of a solid structure and is 25 used, moreover, for other indications, for example fresh fractures in the cervical spine region.

For instance, DE-C 24 04 683 describes a cervical support which has a dimensionally stable supporting body of flexible foam which is placed around the neck of the patient, the free ends of which overlap and are detachably connected to each other in the region of the neck and the upper and lower contour lines of which are _adapted to the anatomical shape of the patient's chin region and shoulder region, -2respectively. Although the cervical support disclosed here has proved successful in practice, it cannot be adapted to individual requirements.

DE 39 06 232 Al discloses a cervical support which likewise has a foam supporting body which can be placed around the neck of the patient. In order to adapt the cervical support to the respective needs of the indication concerned, it is proposed according to the invention to provide in the supporting body at least one opening through which there is guided a supporting element which has a shaft and also a head which is of a large surface area, comes to bear against the inner circumference of the supporting body and reinforces the latter there. If appropriate, a plurality of supporting elements may be anchored to one another by a flexible band.

However, in order to perform the task expected, a supporting element of such a form must be of hard non-flexible material, in particular if the supporting elements are to be connected by a band.

Accordingly, the invention relates to a medical neck collar, comprising: a dimensionally stable supporting body of flexible foam which placed around the neck of a patient; the collar having free ends adapted to overlap and detachably connect to each other in the region of the neck, the ends having upper and lower edges contoured to adapt to the anatomical shape of the patient's chin region and shoulder region 20 respectively; the support body having a covering of viable textile material; at least one stabilising element with a body of open cell or closed cell foam and an inner and/or outer layer of soft foam or non-woven fabric applied to the body; the outer and/or inner layer protruding beyond the periphery of the body in 25 two dimensions; wherein the stabilising element is embedded in the supporting body such that the "outer and/or inner layer remains exposed.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words 'comprise', 'comprising', and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".

-3- Advantageously, at least in preferred forms the present invention provides a neck collar which has an open, lightweight construction, minimizes perspiration or any build-up of heat and provides highly reliable therapy with a functional construction.

In an advantageous embodiment, the stabilizing elements have a body which has a circular, longitudinally oval, elliptical or elongatedly rounded-off shape or a rectangular shape of which the edges are rounded off.

Another advantageous embodiment of the stabilizing elements is formed by the stabilizing elements having a body of foam to which there have been applied an outer layer and/or an inner layer, in particular of a soft foam or nonwoven fabric, which protrude beyond the body in the edge region, preferably by 2 mm to 6 mm.

The inner layer offers the particular advantage that, depending on the embodiment, partial friction can be exerted. The inner layer may, however, also be designed in such a way that [lacuna] a particularly smooth transition from the base of the respective stabilizing element to the surrounding supporting body.

This construction makes it possible for the stabilizing elements to be adhesively bonded 20 at the outer region to the supporting body of the neck collar in order not to have any disturbing joins with respect to the inner region. What is more, the overhang of the ••covering covers over the join on the outside.

Hot-melt adhesive bonding methods are preferred here, it being possible to use 25 commercially available adhesives such as contact adhesives or silicone adhesives for example, but the use of double-sided adhesive tapes has also proved to be suitable.

In a further preferred embodiment, the stabilizing elements are built up in a sandwich S. type of structure, comprising a plurality of layers of different material, in particular foam.

It has then been found to be advantageous if in each side region of the supporting body there is respectively arranged a stabilizing element of which the body has an essentially ellipsoidal cross-section.

O 35 The stabilizing elements should in each case be thickened in the posterior region in comparison with the anterior region.

-4- Finally, the medical neck collar presented above can be produced particularly advantageously by the following process, that is a) the supporting body is cut out or punched out from a block of foam and is provided in the neck region with a closure system, b) the clearances for the stabilizing elements are made in the supporting body, c) the bodies of the stabilizing elements are cut out or punched out from a block of foam, d) the outer and/or inner layers, are adhesively bonded onto the bodies, e) the stabilizing elements are inserted into the clearances, and f) a covering of the pliable textile material is applied.

The advantageous open-cell foam from which the supporting body of the neck collar is formed makes it possible to absorb perspiration and has an outstanding cushioning effect, which leads to a reduction in pressure points in the region of the neck of the patient. This is important to the extent that pressure, specifically in the anterior region, is to be avoided on the larynx, breastbone, collar bone and lower jaw area.

The integration according to the invention of stabilizing elements can achieve a defined increased functional reliability in the sense of stability, guidance and fixing of the cervical spine.

20 Since the stabilizing elements are exchangeable, stabilizing elements with an adapted, higher or lower strength can be used according to the application.

Stabilizing elements produced with the sandwich type of structure have the great advantage that, by means of different strengths of the materials used, stabilizing elements of different character can be individually used on the inside and/or outside or 25 in the core region of the neck collar produced [sic].

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A particularly advantageous design of the neck collar according to the invention is to be described below by means of several figures, without wishing in this way to restrict the invention unnecessarily.

In the figures, Figure 1 shows a neck collar which is provided with a plurality of stabilizing elements, Figure 2 shows a particularly advantageously shaped stabilizing element in plan view, Figure 3 shows the particularly advantageously shaped stabilizing element in lateral view, two embodiments being shown, Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the neck collar in which two of the advantageous stabilizing elements have been integrated.

Represented in Figure 1 is the neck collar 100. The neck collar 100 essentially comprises a dimensionally stable supporting body 1. This supporting body 1 is placed around the 10 neck of the patient. The free ends of the supporting body 1 overlap in the region of the neck and are detachably connected to each other there by means of a touch-and-close fastener, the lower part 21 of which is attached, in particular sewn, on the upper side of the supporting body 1, and the upper part 22 of which, which [sic] is preferably sewn on the lower side.

15 In the supporting body 1 there are a multiplicity of cutouts 31, 32, 33, 34.

Correspondingly shaped stabilizing elements 4, which preferably have a greater hardness than the supporting body 1 surrounding them, are inserted into the cutouts 31, 32, 33, 34. It has proved to be advantageous if the cutouts 31, 32, 33, 34 are provided symmetrically to both sides of the neck. If need be, however, it is quite possible to provide different arrangements or shapes of the cutouts 31, 32, 33, 34 on the sides or else to use stabilizing elements 4 of differing degrees of hardness.

Figure 2 shows a particularly advantageously shaped stabilizing element 4. The stabilizing element 4 is made up of two layers. The upper layer, the outer layer 41, comprises a soft foam which protrudes over the second layer of the stabilizing element 4, the body 42, in the edge region, here by 4 mm. The body 42 is formed from a relatively hard foam in order to be able to assume a supporting function in the neck collar 100. The outer layer 31 [sic], formed in a cam-shaped manner, is adhesively bonded on the body 42, likewise produced in a cam-shaped manner.

In Figure 3, the stabilizing element from Figure 2 is shown once again, in lateral view.

The outer layer 41 adhesively bonded onto the body 42 protrudes beyond the latter. The body 42 may consist of a single layer of foam, but it is also possible, depending on the application, to make the body 42 in a sandwich type of structure, it being possible for the -6different layers 421, 422, 423 of the sandwich to have quite different properties. The sandwich is produced, for example, by the individual layers 421, 422, 423 being adhesively bonded to one another.

In Figure 4 there is finally represented a second, particularly suitable embodiment of the neck collar 100. In the supporting body 1 of the neck collar 100 there are two camshaped stabilizing elements 4, as they are disclosed in Figures 2 and 3. The stabilizing elements 4 are in this case introduced with the body 42 into the existing cutouts 31, 32 present in the supporting body 1, the cutouts 31, 32 having approximately the same dimensions as the bodies 42. The protruding outer layer 41 remains on the outside of the supporting body 1. For secure fixing the outer layers 41 may be adhesively bonded on the supporting body, thereby ruling out any subsequent slipping. The stabilizing elements 4 have in this way been inserted into the supporting element 1 in such a way that the stabilizing elements 4 are in each case thickened in the posterior region in comparison with the anterior region.

As already in Figure 1 as well, the preferably existing covering of textile for the supporting body 1 is not presented.

20 Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples it will be Soappreciated to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

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Claims

1. A medical neck collar, comprising: a dimensionally stable supporting body of flexible foam which placed around the neck of a patient; the collar having free ends adapted to overlap and detachably connect to each other in the region of the neck, the ends having upper and lower edges contoured to adapt to the anatomical shape of the patient's chin region and shoulder region respectively; the support body having a covering of viable textile material; at least one stabilising element with a body of open cell or closed cell foam and an inner and/or outer layer of soft foam or non-woven fabric applied to the body; the outer and/or inner layer protruding beyond the periphery of the body in two dimensions; wherein the stabilising element is embedded in the supporting body such that the outer and/or inner layer remains exposed.

2. A medical neck collar according to Claim 1, wherein the body is circular, 0 longitudinally oval, elliptical or elongatedly rounded-off shape or a rectangular shape of which the edges are rounded off. 00• 20

3. A medical neck collar according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the outer layer protrudes beyond the body by 2mm to 6 mm.

4. A medical neck collar according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the stabilizing elements are built up in a sandwich type of structure, comprising a plurality of layers of different foam material. 25

5. A medical neck collar according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein in each side region of the supporting body respectively arranged a stabilizing element, the body of which has an essentially ellipsoidal cross-section.

6. A medical neck collar according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the on each stabilizing element is thicker in the posterior region compared to the anterior X -1-region. -8-

7. A process for producing a medical neck collar according to at least one of the preceding claims, in which: a) the supporting body is cut out or punched out from a block of foam and is provided in the neck region with a closure system, b) the clearances for the stabilizing elements are made in the supporting body, c) the bodies of the stabilizing elements are cut out or punched out from a block of foam, d) the outer and/or inner layers, are adhesively bonded onto the bodies, e) the stabilizing elements are inserted into the clearances, and f) a covering of the pliable textile material is applied.

8. A medical neck collar substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED this 3rd day of June 2002 BEIERSDORF AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT FelowAttorney: KENNETH W. BOLTON S•iFellow Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia of BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS go 6 *o o *O